Rack for pool-balls



(No Model.)

W. F. WHITNEY.

RACK POOL BALLS.

.Paented Feb. 20,' 1883.

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UNITED STATES WILLIAM F. WHITNEY, OF POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 272,609, dated February 20, 1883.

Application filed March 27, 1882. (No model.)

/w-ith a rack or case comprising channels or compartments which are adapted to receive the balls of the several players, and which have openings at their ends, through which the balls may be delivered, ot' a stop or stopsarranged adjacent to said openings, for preventing the escapeof the balls exceptat the desired'time, and adapted to be moved to aftord the balls free egress when it is desired to deliver them.

The invention also consists in the combination, with a rack or case comprising channels or compartments formed b v aseries of shelves which are arranged one above another, and which are inclined and have openings at their lower ends, through which the balls may be delivered, of stops arranged adjacent to said openings, for preventing the escape of the balls except at thedesired time, and which are adapted to be moved to permit the balls to pass throughsaidopeningswhendesired. Thestops may he moved vertically or horizontally to allow the balls to escape from the inclined shelves,

or they may be pivoted so that they can be turned aside for tlie same purpose, and the stops at opposite sides of the rack or case may be'connected so that they may be moved aside by operating a single lever or device, as hereinafter fully described.

In the accom panying drawings,Figure 1 represents a partly sectional front elevation of a rack embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a. vertical section thereof on the dotted line x, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a detail view, showing stops of modified form. Fig. 4 represents a front elevation ot' a rack of modifled form, also embodying my invention; and

Fig. 5 represents a vertical section on the dotted line y y, Fig. 4.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Referring tirst to Figs. l and 2, A designates an upright rack or case, open at the front, and adapted to be secured in an upright position to a wall or other support. The bottom A of the rack or case is made sufficiently broad to Support a tray, B, in which the balls may be carried to the pool-table. At the t'rontot' the case are lips or iianges a., which project inward from opposite upright sides thereof,and between these iianges'and the baclrof the case are shelves C, which are arranged one above another, and are inclined alternately toward opposite sides of the case, as clearly seen in Fig. l. These shelves C may be channeled or recessed longitudinally on their upper surfaces, as seen clearly in Fig. 2, so as to retain the balls when placed upon them, and they may be provided with lips or ledges at their front edges, and they are set at such an inclination that the balls will roll toward their lower ends. Instead ot' being inclined alternately in opposite directions, the shelves might all be inclined in one direction. U form between them channels or compartments C for the balls, and at the lower end of each shelf is an opening, b, large enough to permit the balls to pass through it. Therefore it will be seen that when permitted the balls will roll along the shelves and downward from one shelf to another, until they are delivered by a spout or chute, D, into the tray B, in which they are taken to the pool-table. j Adjacent to each opening b is a stop, c, which, when adjusted into proper position relatively to the opening, will prevent the egress ofthe halls. As here represented, the stops e consist of projections upon upright bars E, which are adapted to slide vertically Ain grooves d in opposite sides of the case, as

shown in Fig. 1, and which may be connected by a cross-bar, E', so that they may be raised and lowered together. The two bars E may he raised and lowered by applying the hand to the cross-barE or by means ofa lever, F, fulcru med at e to the case, and connected at e' to the said cross-bar. "When the stops c are in their lowest position, as shown in Fig. 1, they will all IOO be obtruded in the way of the balls and prevent the latter from passing through the openings b, but when raised the stops will permit the balls to pass under them and through the openings b, which will enable the balls` to all pass downward into the tray B. rIhe grooves d constitute guides for the hars E, and it is obvious that by modifying these guides, or providing guides ot' different form, the said bars might be moved outward horizontally away from each other to withdraw their stops out ofthe way o'f the balls, or toward the back or front ofthe case sufiiciently to withdraw the stops and allow thel balls to escape. It' the stops were adapted to be withdrawn toward the baci; or front ot` the ease, a very slight movement would be sufficient.

Instead of the sliding stops, I may employ stops c arranged and operated as shown in Fig. 3. Each of said stops is pivoted at c', so that it may be swung or turned into the position shown in full outline to prevent the escape of the balls, or into the position shown in dotted outline to permit the balls to escape.

The several pivoted stops on each side of the case may all be connected by a rod or bar, c2, as clearly shown, to provide for operating them together, and the two rods or bars @Zon opposite sides of the case may be connected by a cross rod or bar similar to the manner in which the bars E are connected by the crossbai E.

Turning now to Figs. 4 and 5, A designates a rack or case, which is divided by upright partitionsfinto a number of channels or compartments, C,.in which the balls are placed. The balls are prevented from escaping from the channels or compartments at the front by flanges g g', attached to the partitions f, and the upright anges g are discontinued or omitted near the top, as clearly shown in Fig. et, so as to attord provision for placing the balls in the channels or compartments Cf. In this example of my invention the openings I1 are at the lower ends ot' the channels or coinpartments C', and all the openings are closed by a single stop, G, which consists ot' a tlap or leat'. hinged by a rock-shaft, G', at its front edge, so that it may be swung downward and forward into the position shown in dotted outline in Fig. 5 to permit all the balls to escape from the channels or compartments C into the tray B, placed on the bottom A' ot' the case in position to receive them. The pivot or rockshai't G', on which the stop G turns, is provided with an arm or lever, G2, whereby itmay be turned; and this arm or lever is here represented as elastic and provided with a shoulder, h, which may engage with a stationary catch or xed shoulder, L, on the case to hold the stop G in position to close all the openings Z1. When the stop G is to be withdrawn the lever. Gf2 is first raised or sprung upward to release the shoulder hfrom the catch la', and is then raised still farther to swing the stop downward and forward. When the lever G2 is pushed down to return the stop G, the shoulder IL engages automatically with its catch h.

By my invention I provide for retaining the balls of different players separate and for delivering them quickly and without the necessity of handling them into the tray, in which they may be carried to the table.

I do not wish'to here make a speciiic claim for a rack which is adapted to be slid longitudinally in an inclosingcase, and in which stops are provided for retaining the balls in front ot' openings in the case; nor do I claim, specifically, a rack composed ot' two sets ot' shelves in which the balls are placed and which are inclinedin opposite directions and provided with swinging stops at their lower and adjacent ends, which stops are connected with a pull-piece, so as to provide for releasing the balls from both sets of shelves at the same time. I do, however, .regard the above described racks as generically ot' my invention, and thereforeintend to claimthe same, generic-l ally.

NVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combinatiomwith a rack or ease comprising channels or compartments which are adapted to receive the balls of the several play y ers7 and which have openings at their ends, through which the balls may be delivered, of a movable stop or stops adjacent to said openings, for preventing the escape of the balls-betore the desired time, substantially as speci lied.

2. The combination, with a rack or case coniprising inclined shelves arranged one above another and having at their lower ends open ings for the delivery ot' the balls. ot' movable stops adjacent to said openings, for preventing the escape of the balls bet'ore the desired time, substantially as spccitied.

3. The combination, with a rack or case comprising shelves arranged one above another and inclined alternately in opposite directions, and which are provided with openings at their lower ends, ot' stops adjacent to said openings and adapted to be slid to withdraw them from said openings, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, with the rack or case A, comprising the inclined shelves U, which are provided with openings b at their lower ends, of the bars E, carrying stops c, and connect-ed so that they may be moved simultaneously, substantially as specified.

' \V. F. WHITNEY.

Witnesses:

HENRY A. HoesFALL, Gao. We STORM.

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